Greenville College
English 101H.01—Research and Writing
Fall Semester, 2004
9:30 – 10:50, TR, Library Computer Classroom

Dr. Donna J. Hart
225 Hogue Hall
Office Phone: 664-6805; Home Phone: 664-3863
Office Hours: 1:30 – 3:30, MWF, or by appontment
Email: donna.hart@greenville.edu

Course Description:

This course builds on the student’s writing experiences from high school and from COR 101, thus assuming that the student has some acquaintance with the 5-paragraph essay and with the skills of summary and synthesis.

We focus specifically on those skills that are necessary for successful research and argumentative writing in all the college disciplines. Therefore, we examine a variety of library databases for finding and evaluating books, periodicals, and online documents as sources of information for supporting a positional assertion. We discuss and practice critical reading skills, successful note-taking strategies, and clear organization and presentation of an argument from either the Toulmin or the Rogerian model.
We write several papers of varying lengths and depending on an increasing number of informational sources.

Course Objectives:

1. become closer, more critical readers and thinkers, recognizing central assertions by other persons, their secondary assertions, and the support which they offer to strengthen those assertions. (IO A1-A2, C8)
2. develop our writing ability through extensive writing practice that emphasizes writing as a process, and develop a better sense of what prewriting, writing, and rewriting techniques work best for each of us. (IO A2, C8)
3. understand the factors that help shape a writer’s choices about vocabulary, tone, style, and structure in several different rhetorical modes, but with our emphasis on research writing. (IO A2)
4. discuss and practice the strategies of paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting of sources according to APA and MLA style. (IO A2)
5. discuss and practice the strategies of synthesizing, critiquing, arguing, etc., not only as a means to higher thinking skills, but also as methods to use in writing a variety of research papers. (IO A2)
6. develop skill in using--and evaluating the usefulness, i.e., reliability, of--library sources of various kinds (books, periodicals, online databases), particularly electronic messaging and other non-refereed Internet sources. (IO A1-A2, C8)
7. work to eliminate grammar, syntax, mechanical, and spelling errors. (IO A2, C8)
8. work to improve clarity, coherence, creativity, and correctness of our written discourse. (IO A2, C8)
9. understand cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity and determine ways that our arguments must respect and accommodate those differences. (IO A1, B3-B6, C7-C9)
10. understand that writing expectations differ within different disciplines. (IO A2)
11. understand the importance of technology in enabling our research. (IO A2)
12. understand the different expectations and requirements for clear communication in oral texts and compared to written texts. (IO A2)
13. understand and use non-print media, where appropriate, to support a position. These might include personal interviews, letters, television or movie sources, etc. (IO A2)

Assessment:

1. Objective 1 is assessed informally through class discussions of assigned readings. Formal assessment occurs with periodic reading quizzes that ask students to elicit thesis statement, supporting assertions, etc.
2. Objectives 2 and 3 are assessed through peer editing exercises, one-on-one teacher-student conferences, and teacher grading of student final papers that have gone through several stages of revision.
3. Objective 4 is assessed through class exercises in incorporating pieces of information from primary sources into student papers by each of these means.
4. Objective 5 is assessed through informal class discussion in which we compare and contrast or find other relationships between writers with a variety of positions on selected issues. It is more formally assessed through required synthesis and critique assignments, either in class or outside of class.
5. Objective 6 is assessed informally by the research librarian doing an exercise with a “bogus” website that looks official, but is defective. It is also assessed by students determining which electronic sources actually do provide them useful information for their research papers. In written texts, it is assessed by our discussion of how we recognize "liberal," "conservative," or "moderate" points of view.
6. Objectives 7 and 8 are assessed informally through peer editing exercises and one-on-one teacher-student conferences. Formally, they are assessed through teacher grading of final papers.
7. Objectives 9 and 10 are assessed through informal class discussion of assigned readings and of drafts of student papers.
8. Objective 11 is assessed by the degree to which students become comfortable in using computers for prewriting, writing, and rewriting and in accessing information which will help them support the assertions they make in their papers.
9. Objective 12 is assessed by class dialogue and oral support for student points of view.
10. Objective 13 is assessed by teacher grading of final papers.

Additional Information:

For information regarding the College’s—and MY—policies about writing standards, portfolios, and academic honesty (plagiarism), go to the College website at http://www.greenville.edu/academics/aa/assessment/syllabi/texts.shtml#writing .

My Basic Assumptions:

This is a course that demands that you demonstrate:

• Perspicacious Reading.
• Articulate Speaking.
• Persuasive Writing.

In regard to prejudices:

We all start with a set of presuppositions--Christians do (varieties of Christians do), Hindus do, the KKK does, the NAACP does, men do, women do, children do. Everything we read, speak, write, or think gets filtered through those presuppositions.

I intend to teach this class through the filter of what we at Greenville College call John Wesley's "quadrilateral," partly I suppose, because this is a Free METHODIST institution and partly because such an approach to academics and to life seems BALANCED to me--avoiding extremes, either to the "right" or to the "left."

The "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" suggests that we make judgments based on

REASON, EXPERIENCE, SCRIPTURE, and TRADITION

(R.E.S.T. will help you remember them). These are the 4 supports I want you to use

• To read each text I assign.
• To participate in every discussion we share.
• To write every paper you write.
• To edit every one of your classmates' drafts.

So what do we mean by the elements of this "Wesleyan Quadrilateral”?

To be REASONABLE means that you must objectively consider all the spoken and written evidence. You must be attentive (give your whole attention) to a variety of viewpoints, whether they align with yours or not. Anger, ridicule, ignore(ance)--none of these responses allows you to be attentive or reasonable.

To use your EXPERIENCE means to ask yourself how being what you are (as in my case, a Christian--Southern Baptist turned Free Methodist and married to a Roman Catholic, a white woman, a farm girl, a mother, a remarried divorcee) informs your view of the world. What does your experience of the world tell you that some of your classmates may not know? What does your personal experience with God through Jesus Christ tell you?

To use SCRIPTURE means to consider carefully what God has said through His prophets and apostles. Of course, this means you must really seek to know WHAT HE SAID and not just what a particular denomination (such as the Free Methodist or the Baptist) says He said. It will take your getting back to the Hebrew or Greek and to the context in which it was written. The Religion Department can help you do that.

To respect TRADITION means that you do not reinvent the wheel. What have the Church Fathers (and Mothers), Catholic and Protestant, said about this issue? What have historians, sociologists, economists, psychologists, teachers--all scholars--said about this issue in the past? What are wise people saying about it now? How do all these voices stand up under the scrutiny of your own reason, experience, and Scripture?
Such an approach calls for your listening to a multitude of voices--your own and others--and sorting through what makes sense to you in the lights of reason, experience, Scripture, and tradition. As Andrea Lunsford and John Ruszkiewicz, assert, "It is not a tennis match of ideas, one that will yield winners and losers. Rather, we are interested in how we all come to know and to take positions on various issues, how to nurture open and realistic exchanges of ideas" (The Presence of Others xvii). Nonetheless, I agree with John Henry Newman, nineteenth century British theologian and educator, that we listen to all these voices--our own and others--to arrive at "the attainment of truth, which is their common end" (PO 40).

Attendance Policy:

You can best meet the course objectives by attending and participating in class. We cannot share information and views if you are not here. Your education depends not only on your compliance with reading a certain number of pages or turning in a stipulated number of papers; it also depends on the interaction between your voice and others' voices. Thus, I will allot 2 points toward an "attendance grade" for each MWF class session and 3 for each TR session. So, for example, if we were to meet 3 times a week for 15 weeks, your total possible points would be 90, which would about equal a test grade. If we were to meet 2 times a week for 15 weeks, your total possible points would still be 90. Of course, the total will actually be just a bit less than that, because we will dismiss class on some occasions for research, etc. Whenever you are not in class, you will not earn the points.

ATHLETES: All athletes are excused for all games. See me about your makeup work ahead of time. Don't expect absences on top of your games; save your absences for your games.

***As far as tardiness is concerned, I do not intend to play that game. If you are repeatedly late, I'll just start counting you absent.

Grading Criteria:

I designate a certain number of points to every assignment I grade, fewer points for daily assignments or quizzes and more points for major papers. Your grade will be based on the percentage you earn of the total number of points possible. The percentages will be as follows: 90% = A; 80% = B; 70% = C; 60% = D; less than 60% = F. Thus, for example, if you earn 8 points out of a possible 10 on a quiz, you have 80%, or a B-.
Your grade for this course depends on your performance on periodic reading quizzes, in-class impromptu essays, Blackboard discussions, expository essays, unit tests (not applicable to ENG 101), and a research paper.

As far as your major essays go, after several readings, I determine a "letter" grade for your paper. This grade reflects

• how it compares with an “ideal” performance on the grading matrix (which I will hand out to you)
• how it compares with the papers completed by your classmates
• how your paper compares to my "Eight C's" of expectations (which I will hand out to you).

Once I decide your letter grade, I assign your paper a number of points to reflect the "percentage" your letter grade represents.

***While I cannot realistically assign a certain percentage worth to your class participation, that factor is always important.

Late Papers:

Papers are due no later than 4:00 p.m. on their deadline date, unless otherwise indicated on the syllabus.

Study Time Expectations:

College students should, realistically, expect to spend two hours outside of class for every hour they spend in class. Frankly, when you have a test to study for or a research paper to complete, it will take you more time than that.

Tentative Class Schedule:

Week One—September 2

• R - Introduction to the class, syllabus, course topic, etc.
• Assignment: Write a 2-3 page paper, in which you state your own political position and assert several reasons for your thinking. Post this to the Digital Drop Box on your Blackboard course site by 10:00 p.m. Sunday night.
• Assignment: If you are not already registered to vote, DO SO NOW! Go to www.gop.org or www.democrats.org , whichever is your political party of choice.

Week Two—September 7, 9

• T - Ms. Sara Kopesky will talk with you about finding all the research materials you will need for this semester.
• R - We will determine what the important issues are for this election year.
• Assignment: Carefully examine your chosen Party’s official website—and at least 2 other sources of information—and write a 2-3 page essay outlining what your Party’s basic positions are. We will use the Toulmin Model. Follow APA format for your paper and include an APA bibliography listing your sources. Post this to the DDB by Sunday night, 10:00 p.m.

Week Three—September 14, 16

• T - We will discuss your findings in class.
• R - Divide into groups to research a given issue, i. e., health care and prescription drugs. (We’ll choose the first one as a class.)
• Assignment: Begin that research. Keep a working bibliography of the sources you use.

Week Four—September 21, 23

• T - Lab. Work with your group to continue finding as much information as you can on the chosen topic.
• R - Decide whether your Party has the best position on this issue or not. Begin writing paper.
• Assignment: Write a group paper arguing for or against your Party’s position on this issue. Incorporate citation and documentation of your sources of research. Use APA style. Post this one group paper by Sunday night—same time, same place.

Week Five—September 28, 30

• T - Choose a second topic, i.e., the War on Terrorism. (You will choose this topic, however, as you did before.)
• R - Lab. Work with your group again to research what your Party has to say on this issue.
• Assignment: Write an individual paper this time, arguing for or against your Party’s position on this second issue. Incorporate citation and documentation of your sources of research. Use APA style. Post this paper as usual.

Week Six—October 5, 7

My son is graduating from his 6 months’ training at The Marine Basic School at Quantico, VA. I will be attending his graduation, so we will not have class this week. However. . .

• I will post some of your group papers to Blackboard under the Discussion Board area.
• Assignment: Go in and read your “opposition’s” arguments. Post at least one response to the “other side’s” positions. Make it a reasoned (that is, well supported) response. Complete this by Sunday night, as usual.

Week Seven—October 12, 14

• T, R - I hope to have guest speakers this week, one Democrat and one Republican. I’d like for you to hear some “for real” politician voicing his/her arguments for the issues that are of concern to us in this election.
• Assignment: Post to the Discussion Board your response to the speakers, especially if you found out something new or changed your mind about anything or disagreed with anything.

Week Eight—October 19, 21

• T, R - We will choose still a third issue to research, i.e., social security. We will follow the same procedure of researching and writing a group paper.
• Assignment: Post your paper to DDB by Sunday night.

Week Nine—October 26, 28

• T – Prepare a pre-election “poll” of selected College students. For whom do they intend to vote? Why?
• R – Administer the poll, tally the results.
• Assignment: Write a group report of your poll results, including how your group compares to various national poll results. Post to DDB by Sunday night.

Week Ten—November 2, 4

• T - November 2: ELECTION DAY! VOTE! We will talk about the second model of argument, the Rogerian Model, and about MLA style of documentation.
• R – Choose a subject of your own interest and begin gathering information to support a positional assertion for a final research paper.
• Assignment: Compile an MLA bibliography of at least 15 sources. Post this to DDB by Sunday night.

Week Eleven—November 9, 11

• T – Lab. Take notes on at least 10 sources related to your paper. I will show you the model I want you to use.
• R – Lab. Take notes.
• Assignment: Post notes on 10 sources to DDB by Sunday night.

Week Twelve—November 16, 18

• T – Lab. Write the “opponent” section of your research paper.
• R – Lab. We’ll peer edit each other’s papers, following the guidelines of a matrix, which I will give to you.
• Assignment: Continue writing your paper. Move on into the section which develops your own point of view.

Week Thirteen—Thanksgiving Break

Week Fourteen—November 30, December 2

• T – Lab. Write your paper.
• R – We’ll work on some content and writing issues—logical fallacies, sufficiency of support, etc.

Week Fifteen—December 7, 9

• T – We’ll work on writing issues of your choice—subject/verb agreement? Pronoun/antecedent agreement? Consistency of voice? Clarity? Coherence? Etc.
• R – Lab. Write your paper.
• Assignment: Post your finished paper to DDB by Sunday night, as usual.

Week Sixteen—December 14. Exam Week

• Your final research paper IS your final exam.